


promise me

by feministsteverogers (Sara357), natalielauren73



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, M/M, Sad Ending, Someone dies, im so sorry, sadness just all around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 08:28:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5998894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sara357/pseuds/feministsteverogers, https://archiveofourown.org/users/natalielauren73/pseuds/natalielauren73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Len tries to protect Ray and that's where things go wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	promise me

The team notices it immediately, the difference in Len’s state after every mission. Constant cuts and bruises from every excursion, every fight. Even on missions where the whole team is damaged, he’s always the worst off. Ray, however, always seems to emerge mostly unscathed. Mick figures it out first. He’s known Len for years, of course he knows his best friend is acting strangely. He puts two and two together and keeps it to himself. He knows Len’s past all too well, knows his motives for behaving this way and lets it alone. This isn’t his to share. Sara is the next to figure it out. She’s quietly observant of her team, and confronts Mick. He’s reluctant at first, but gives in after some coercion. He knows she’s too stubborn to stop without getting answers. So he explains it to her, the reason why Len is acting like this. He swears her to secrecy, this isn’t about to become the ship’s latest gossip. Eventually the rest of the team finds out, everyone except Ray.

It takes months- well, years considering the whole time travel thing, –before he realizes what’s been going on. They’ve finally caught Savage, tracked him down to a time shortly before his rise to power. The fight is intense, weapons more advanced in this year and Savage stronger than in their last encounter. Ray is covering for Kendra, firing off blasts as she makes her way over to their enemy. He doesn’t see the blast coming, but Len does. Next thing he knows, Len is on the ground in front of him, bleeding.

Mick roars as soon as he sees him move to block Ray. He blazes a path to his best friend, shifting him gently to rest his head in his lap, setting down his gun to protect his broken body. Ray stands in shock while the rest of the team takes care of Savage. Mick is murmuring to Len, “No no no Lenny please don’t do this bud I can’t do this without you,” in broken whimpers and sobs. The rest of the team gathers around them and they maneuver Len into Mick’s arms so he can be carried to the med bay of the ship. Laying against the stark white of the sheets, Len looks pale, breathing haggardly. It’s immediately obvious that he isn’t going to make it. A large hole is singed into the chest of his parka, the burned skin and bone clear to see. The team takes turns saying goodbye to him, starting with Mick and ending with Ray. He’s unresponsive, lying with his eyes closed and heartbeat stuttering. Each member exits the room with tears in their eyes. He’s sitting against the wall, knees up to his chest and arms wrapped around his legs when Sara tells him it’s his turn.

He stands up, trying not to burst into tears when he sees Len. He sits in a chair next to the bed, grasping Len’s cool hand in his own. The tears come then, heaving sobs joining the sound of his failing vitals and rasping breaths. This is his fault, Len is dying because he chose to sacrifice himself for Ray and he doesn’t know why. He has to ask, he has to.

“Why?” He whispers quietly, resting his forehead against his and Len’s clasped hands.

“Promise me.” He hears faintly. His head shoots up, looking at Len. His clear blue eyes meet Ray’s own. At the sound of his voice, the rest of the team rushes over, everyone smiling through tears and he wheezes his last breath.

The funeral is held in Central City, the place he loved, his home. It’s beautiful, but something Ray can’t appreciate. How can he appreciate the ceremony when his teammate is being buried in the ground right before his eyes? He’s stoic the entire time, face emotionless as those around him grieve.

It’s only after they return to the ship that Ray works up the nerve to ask Mick. He tells the kid everything- no point in hiding the truth now that Lenny isn’t here to get mad at him. He tells Ray about Len’s childhood, how he protected his sister instead of himself, how he grew up reserved and untrusting. About how the team changed him. About making Ray promise to protect himself after that crucial mission. Mick tells him how Len found him in prison, unshackling his hands from his bonds and cradling his body close on the way back to the ship. How he wouldn’t let anyone else touch Ray, tending to the wounds on his own, and sleeping by his side until he regained consciousness. It comes to him then- why Len always made it his priority to protect him on missions, why he always returned in worse shape than everyone else. Mick tells him that it was the guilt over letting Ray get hurt one time, why he vowed to never see him injured again. He tells Ray is isn’t his fault that things turned out this way. Mick stands to leave, briefly clasping him on the shoulder and leaving with the words, “He loved you, you know.” 

It’s then that the tears come. He sits on the edge of his bed, sobbing into his hands. This man he never knew was his friend, let alone someone that loved him. He laughs at the bitter irony of being on a time traveling ship, but still being powerless to change this. He lies on his side, closing his eyes and letting himself dream of what could have been.

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my first legends of tomorrow fic. I was all in w coldflash when im watching the flash but then the last legends episode happened and now im also coldatom trash. come talk to me on tumblr! feministsteverogers.tumblr.com


End file.
